Transfer mechanism for forging machines



Nov. 7, 1961 M. R. FELBER TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FORGING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed March 2, 1959 INVENTOR. Martin 1 Felber' BY /lf b@ a? tcarngr Nov. 7, 1961 M. R. FELBER TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FORGING MACHINES Filed March 2, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. J'Zartzln Flber BY Kw 3L flttarndyf Nov. 7, 1961 M. R. FELBER TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FORGING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 2, 1959 INVENTOR. Martin R. Felber BY KM 52 Nov. 7, 1961 I M. R. FELBER 3,007,181

TRANSFER MECHANISM FOR FORGING MACHINES Martin R. FeZber BY haw $2M United Stes This apparatus relates in general to apparatus for hot forged heading of bolts and more particularly relates to a transfer mechanism for moving the bolts from a heading operation to a flashing removal operation.

Heretofore, in the bolt heading art, a tong gripper type of transfer mechanism was utilized in moving the bolts to various positions required for operation by the punches which formed the heads on the rod stock. It was found that the tong gripper transfer mechanism unduly weakened the support structure for the gripper dies, required an excessive amount of moving parts, and was unwieldly in both space and in operative maintenance procedures as well as being difficult to adjust for accommodation of various sizes of rod stock.

Another prior art attempt to solve the problem of a good efficient transfer mechanism involved the use of a transfer plate-pressure plate combination wherein the transfer plate had a series of rollers which attempted to roll the elongated rod stock against knurled or upset strips on the pressure plate from the bolt heading position to the flashing removal position. Severe disabilities occurred through this latter approach due to the fact that the rod stock was not always perfectly round and, thus, would not accurately roll from the heading station to the flashing removal station and present itself in the latter station in perfect alignment. Further, this transfer mechanism is useful only with round stock (when operative) and will not accommodate other standard shapes of rod stock.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a transfer mechanism which is exceedingly compact, has a minimum of working parts, and moves the rod stock from the heading station to the flash removal station so as to present the rods in perfect alignment for the subsequent operation thereon.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an automatic system of'heading bolts which provides an absolute minimum of rejects while affording accommodation to a wide variety of rod sizes and a wide variety of tolerances in the type of rod stock used.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a transfer mechanism which has a gripper portion which fixedly engages the rod stock and slidably moves the rod stock, without rotational movement thereof, on a smooth portion of the pressure plate to thereby move the rod from the heading station to the flashing removal station.

The novel features that are characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims; the invention, itself however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1a is an isometric perspective view of the elongated rod stock, the end portion of which is heated; i

FIG. 1b is an isometric perspective view of the rod shown in FIG. la after the heading operation;

FIG. lc is an isometric perspective view of the finished. bolt head subsequent to removal of the flashing;

FIG. 2-is a semidiagrammatic view, a portion of which is in section, showing the apparatus for automatically heading rod stock into bolts;

stem:

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FIG. 2a is a reduced scale isometric perspective view of the transfer mechanism shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a semidiagrammatic view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 showing the relative disposition of the parts after the transfer .plate has moved downwardly to thereby simultaneously move two rods, one to a heading position and the second to a trimming position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the relative position of the parts after the movable gripper die has moved against the stationary gripper die holding the rods in the heading and trimming positions and forcing the pressure plate out of any engagement with the rod stock and allowing the metering means to load another rod onto a staging portion of the movable gripper die;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to views 2, 3 and 4 showing the relative disposition of the parts when the transfer plate has returned to its original position and the heading and trimming operations have just been completed as shown in FIGS. 7' and 8;

FIG. 6 is a'view similar to FIGS. 2 through 5 inclusive and shows the intermediate stage of the operation of the machine as the movable gripper die is moving back to the position shown in FIG. 2, the dotted line portion on the right hand side of FIG. 6 being the position of the parts in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a vertical view taken through the apparatus approximately along lines 7-7 of FIG. 5, the rod stock being here included in full line and the header die and trimmer punch being shown semidiagrammatically; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 and partially in section showing the relative position of the parts when the header die and trimming punch have been actuated by the header slide of the machine.

Returning now to FIG. 1a of the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates a precut length of rod stock generally circular in cross-section having a considerably greater axial length than cross-sectional diameter. It is important to note that rod stock is supplied by the steel mills in various tolerance levels asto roundness" and generally speaking the greater the tolerance as to roundness the lower the cost per unit weight. Further, the difference in tolerances required and the difference in the respective costs is substantial.

The ends of the rods 10 are heatedat 11 in a suitable furnace not shown. After heating, they are delivered to the metering means 15 which delivers individual rods 10a through we respectively through the head forming portion of the apparatus.

In the essence, the apparatus here shown has a loading stage, a head forming stage for forming the flat sided head 12 in a generally square form 1'3 with a surrounding flashing 14, a'flashing removal third stage and a delivery stage.

The hot forge head forming apparatus per se generally comprises the metering means 15, the pressure plate means 18, the transfer plate means 19, the stationary gripper die means 20 and the movable gripper die means 21 together with the header die and trimmer punch means 44 and 45 which are shown only in FIGS. 7 and 8.

More particularly, the metering mechanism comprises a power actuated movable arm 16 having a tail por'tion which allows a single rod 10 to move from a chute 17 down onto a loading position on the top 24 of the pressure plate means 18. The means for actuating the lever arm gate 16 is not shown. The chute 17 is formed with a flat vertical end portion 17a which is operable to engage and retain a rod such as 1% (shown in FIG. 2) as the pressure plate moves away from the position shown in FIG. 2 as shall be later explained and shall become apparent hereinafter.

The pressure plate means 18 is shown in FIGS. 2

through 8 and generally comprises a base portion 22 having an upper extending portion 23 which fits over the stationary gripper die means 20 and a top surface 24- Fixed to the base portion 22 of the pressure plate m n 18 are a plurality of very smooth polished parallel rod engaging strips 25 which extend from top to bottom completely across the face of the pressure plate. It is important to note that the strips 25 should be as smooth and highly polished as is practically possible so that the rods 10 may he slid thereon with a very minimum of friction. As shown in FIG. 2 the pressure plate is movable in the horizontal plane by air cylinder means 26 here shown semidiagrammatically. The pressure plate does not move at all in the vertical plane.

The transfer plate means 19 (shown in isometric perspective view in FIG. 2a) comprises a base portion 27 which is attached to suitable air cylinder means 35 for movement in a generally vertical plane as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The transfer plate means 19 is essentially divided into three horizontal portions, the first portion being a pair of spring loaded blocks 28 which is adapted to move a rod from a loading station to the heading station. The blocks 28 of the transfer means 19 are provided with a centrally located curvilinear channel slot 34 which engages and captures a rod and moves same along the pressure plate in a downwardly direction. If desired, a single block may be used instead of the pair shown.

The second horizontal portion 29 of the transfer plate means 19 is spaced below block 28 and has a rectangular channel 31 formed in the face thereof, the margins of the channel 31 providing a pair of sharp edges 32 and 33 which are adapted to fixedly engage a rod by biting or wedged into the periphery of the rod to move the rod from the heading station to the flashing removal station as shall be later explained.

The third horizontal portion 30 of the transfer means 19 is a dropout portion and comprises a pair of smooth blocks 30 which are spaced below the second block portions 29. The function of the third portion 30 is to al- 10w free dropout of the finished bolt and, thus, is formed with a very smooth face which will not tend to impede the progress of the rods in a downwardly direction. It will be further noted that the third portion '30 is offset to the right as shown in FIG. 2 by a dimension such that there is clearance between the pressure plate strips 25 and the surface of the third portion 30 to allow free drop out of the rods.

The movable gripper die means 21 and the stationary gripper die means 20 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are spaced ahead of or to the left of the main portions of the transfer plate and the pressure plate. The movable gripper die comprises a base portion 36 having a loading platform portion 37 at the top thereof as viewed in FIG. 2, with a shelf 38 thereon which receives the bolts from the top 24 of the pressure plate means 18 as shall become apparent and as is best shown in FIG. of the drawings. Spaced directly below (in the vertical plane) the loading platform portion 37 is the gripper portion 39 which fixedly holds the rod for the heading operation. Spaced directly below the portion 39 is the flashing removal gripping portion 40 which grips the rod during the flashing removal operation. The movable gripper die means 21 is moved in a horizontal plane as shown in FIG. 2 by a suitable power means 41 here shown semidiagrammatica'lly.

The stationary gripper die means 20 remains in fixed position and is formed with only two stations namely the heading station 42 and the flash removal station 43 which are directly aligned with similar stations 39 and 40 on the movable gripper die means 21.

The header die 44 and trimming punch 45 are suitably formed to the type of head desired and are operated by a power means 46 so as to impinge upon the heated end portion 11 of the rod when it is in the appropriate stations of the gripper dies.

The operation shall now be described. The sequential operation of the machine is shown by FIGS. 2 through 8. More particularly, FIG. 2 shows the beginning of the operation with rod 10a being in engagement with arm 16 of the metering means, rod 10b resting on top of the top surface 24 of the pressure plate means 18, rod being engaged by the pressure plate strips 25 and the loading portion 34 of the transfer mechanism, the movable gripper die means 21 being positioned to the right and clear of all contact with the rods, the stationary gripper die means 20 not engaging any of the rods by virtue of the position of the pressure plate means 18, the rod 10d being fixedly engaged for non-rotational transfer by the edges 32 and 33 of the second block portions 29 of the transfer plate means, said rod 10d essentially being as is shown in FIG. 1b, and finished rod 10s dropping out of the apparatus a finished headed bolt such as shown in FIG. 10.

The parts of the apparatus then move from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3. More particularly, the transfer plate means 19 has moved downwardly by the air cylinder 35 causing movement of rod 100 from the loading station to the heading station opposite gripper die portions 3942 respectively. Rod 10d (similar to FIG. lb) is simultaneously moved from the heading station to the trimming station in the same operation i.e., opposite gripper die portions 4043.

While the transfer plate means 19 is in the downwardly position as shown in FIG. 3 the movable gripper die means 21 is actuated to the left as shown in FIG. 4 causing simultaneous engagement of rods 10c and 10d in the gripper guide portions 42-39 and 43-40 respectively. The movable gripper die means 21 simultaneously actuates the pressure plate means 18 causing the latter to move to the left (as viewed in FIG. 4) relative to the stationary gripper die means 20. The movement of the pressure plate means to the left causes rod 10b to leave the top surface 24 of the pressure plate means 18 by engaging surface 17a at the end of the chute 17, thus affording movement of rod 10b onto loading shelf 38 of the movable gripper die.

As shown in FIG. 5' the next step in the operation is the return of the transfer plate mechanism 19 back to the position shown in FIG. 2, i.e., returning to an upward position completely disengaged from any contact with the rods 10b, 10c, and 10d. It is at this stage of the operation that the header slide of the machine 46 actuates the header die and trimming punch 44 and 45 into engagement with rods 10c and 10d to cause respectively the heading and trimming of rods 10d and 10c. The header die and trimmer punch are then actuated to the left as viewed in FIG. 7 returning to the position shown in FIG. 7 from the position shown in FIG. 8.

The movable gripper die (as shown in FIG. 6) then returns toward its original position shown in FIG. 2 and is shown intermediate its final movement to the dotted position shown in FIG. 6. At this position, the pressure plate means 18 re-engages the rods 10b, 10c, and 10d by moving to the right i.e., in the same direction as the movable gripper die forcing the rod into engagement with the transfer plate means 19. Meanwhile, completed bolt head rod 10d drops out as shown in FIG. 6.

It will be noted that each rod advances one step during a complete cycle and that the apparatus is adapted to step by step automatic operation on a mass production scale.

An essential feature of the instant approach is the second portion 29 of the transfer plate means 19 having the wedging edges 32 and 33 firmly engaging the rod 10d in moving it from the heading station to the trimming station as shown in FIG. 3. The rod is skidded along the polished strips 25 of the pressure plate with a minimum of friction there being no rotation of the rods due to the wedging' into the stock of the sharp edges 32 and 33 of the channel 31. Thus, when rod d is transferred from the heading station and presented to the trimming station of gripper dies in FIG. 4, there has been no rotation of the rod and the rods are exactly aligned for the trimming operation. Since the trimming punch necessarily must have a cutout portion of the same shape of the head formed by the heading die 44 it is necessary that the alignment between those two stations be perfect and this is true of all heads formed except round heads.

It should also be noted that while this application is particularly concerned with forming fiat sided heads on bolts, it is applicable to a transfer mechanism for all types of bolt forming operations, other than round heads, where there is critical alignment needed between the heading and the trimming station. In some instances, no flashing is formed by the forging operation but there may be more than one forging pass required to form the desired shape. In this operation the instant transfer mechanism also has application.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is with full awareness that many further modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except as insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a machine for continuous hot forge heading of round stock provided with stock gripping means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and having first and second work stations, first die means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and adapted to forge a head at said first work station, second die means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and adapted to trim said head at said second work station, transfer means reciprocable in a substantially vertical direction for carrying one piece of stock to said first work station and for simultaneously transferring another piece of stock from said first to said second Work station; the improvement in said transfer means comprising a member having first and second stock engaging portions and an offset planar portion respectively spaced apart along the general direction of reciprocation of said transfer means, a pressure plate having a planar, low friction surface in face-to-face relation with said first, second and offset portions, said pressure plate being reciprocable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said member to clamp stock against said first and second portions during transfer of said stock and also reciprocable in the opposite direction to release said stock from said first and second portions, said member being reciprocable to move said first portion away from stock held at said first station by said gripping means and to a position wherein said first portion is adapted to receive another piece of stock and to simultaneously move said second portion away from said second station and opposite said stock held at said first station by said gripping means, said second portion having spaced apart sharp edges adapted to fixedly engage peripherally spaced apart portions of said stock to prevent rotation thereof during movement of said stock by said member from said first to said second station, said offset planar portion during movement of said stock from said first to said second station defining with said pressure plate a stock drop-out channel having a dimension greater than the diameter of said stock.

2.. In a machine for continuous hot forge heading of round stock provided with stock gripping means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and having first and second stations, first die means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and operable to forge a head on said 6 7 stock at said first station, second die means movable in a substantially horizontal direction and operable to true said head at said second station, and transfer means reciprocable in a substantially vertical direction for carrying one piece of stock to said first station and for simultaneously transferring another piece of stock from said first to said second station; the improvement comprising said transfer means having first and second stock engaging portions spaced apart along the direction of reciprocation of said transfer means and said transfer means including a pressure plate having a low coefficient of friction in opposedrelation to said first and second portions, said pressure plate being reciprocable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said transfer means to clamp stock against said first and second portions, said transfer means being reciprocable to move said first portion away from stock held at said first station by said gripping means and to a position wherein said first portion is adapted to receive another piece of stock and to simultaneously move said second portion away from said second station and opposite said stock held at said first station by said gripping means, said second portion having sharp edges adapted to bite into peripherally spaced apart portions of said stock to prevent rotation thereof during movement of said stock by said transfer means from said first to said second station.

3. In a machine for continuous hot forge heading of round stock provided with movable stock gripping means having first and second stations, movable die means operable to forge a head on said stock at said first station, movable means operable to true said head at said second station, and movable transfer means for carrying one piece of stock to said first station and for simultaneously transferring another piece of stock from said first to said second station; the improvement comprising said transfer means having a member reciprocable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said die means and which includes first and second stock engaging surfaces spaced apart along the direction of reciprocation of said member, said transfer means including a pressure plate having a low coefficient of friction opposed to said first and second stock engaging surfaces, said pressure plate being reciprocable in a direction transverse of the direction of movement of said member to clamp stock against said first and second surfaces during transfer of said stock and also reciprocable in the opposite direction to release said stock from said first and second surfaces, said member being reciprocable to move said first surface away from stock held at said first station by said gripping means to a position wherein said first surface is adapted to receive another piece of stock and to simultaneously move said second surface away from said second station and opposite said stock held at said first station by said gripping means, said second surface having sharp edges adapted to engage peripherally spaced apart portions of said stock to prevent rotation thereof during movement of said stock by said transfer means from said first to said second station, whereby a predetermined alignment of stock in said second station is effected.

4. A transfer means for moving round stock between work stations in a machine provided with a plurality of work stations, means operable to forge a head at one of said stations, and means operable to true said head at another of said stations, said transfer means comprising, a pressure plate having a planar, low friction, stock engaging face, reciprocable means having at least one stock engaging surface thereon in opposed relation with said pressure plate face for moving stock along the surface of said face upon movement of said reciprocable means 111 one direction, said one stock engaging surface on said reciprocable means having sharp spaced apart edges for engaging peripherally spaced apart portions of said stock, said one stock engaging surface adapted to fixedly References Cited in the file of this patent engage s'aid stool; and operable in'conjunction with said UNITED STATES PATENTS face to prevent axial rotation of said stock along said face during movement of said stock between said forging and 2,532,552 Viellflfd Iall- 9 truing stations and to provide a predetermined alignment 5 ,877 Smerz Sept. 25, 1956 of said stock in said truing station. ,796,616 Lein weber June 26, 1957 

